Religious coverage in the media is a strange game. Last week a painfully thoughtful, nuanced and balanced pastoral letter from the Anglican bishops attracted ferocious attacks from the right wing press and conservative politicians. This week the Catholic bishops delivered a rather more fiery, short and direct letter which has attracted barely a whimper of coverage.
This is the last in a series of blogs looking at the future of religion in Britain. To read the others click here
Prof. Grace Davie spoke at Theos on Monday 16th on her new book on Religion in Britain: A Persistent Paradox.
This is the third in a series of blogs looking at the future of religion in Britain. To read the others click here
Another year, another chance for a Churchill retrospective. Last weekend saw the 50th anniversary of the wartime leader’s funeral, and with considerable gusto, the media marked the occasion with a flurry of documentaries and op–eds exploring every aspect of the former PM’s life. Although in many ways this was to be expected, it was hard to ignore how one–sided a lot, if not all, of the coverage seemed.
Who’d be a bishop in public life? Say anything political, you get accused of being, well, political (in the hiss-at-the-villain sense of that word). Say anything more discursive or emollient, you get accused of preaching vacuities. Say anything about poverty and you get told to put your money where your mouth is. Say anything about power, you get accused of House-of-Lords hypocrisy. Rowan Williams captured this well in the extended opening paragraph of his post-archiepiscopal volume of essays, Faith in the Public Square:
Nick Spencer and Robert White offer a detailed perspective on Christianity and sustainable consumption and production.
Not only can politicians talk openly about British values and the British way of life, but it is increasingly felt that they need to.
Nick Spencer traces the influence of the Bible on British political life and thought. (2011)